Upon the release in August 1988, Bill Coleman from Billboard magazine wrote, "From one of this year's finest albums, Conscience, comes this musically refreshing and upbeat offering meriting multiformat exposure.

"[16] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "You cannot resist this one: a sweet, supple and loosely arranged dance track featuring the wonderful vocals of Linda Womack.

"[17] Jerry Smith from Music Week complimented "Teardrops" as a "stylish and svelte soul number that sees Chris Blackwell back in the producer's chair as its irresistible rhythm ensures success.

"[18] John McCready from NME stated that the song "stalks the same radical soul territory continuing Linda and Cecil's joy and pain public romance.

"[20] Michael Hochanadel from Schenectady Gazette felt the "spry dance-floor bounce" of the song "beautifully belies its desperation.

In 2000, the group released another version of the 1998 cover, but it did not achieve the same degree of success in the British charts, peaking at number 24.

[47] Built upon a synth-heavy, beat driven instrumentation, their version omits the opening verse's second line "I break down and cry, next time I'll be true, yeah.

[50] Physical and digital singles were released on 19 October 2007,[51] including remixes by Roland Spremberg, Boogieman, and Mozart & Friends as well as the previously unreleased track "Ain't Gonna Look the Other Way," a re-recording of the 2004 Tracy Ackerman-penned song by Canadian singer Celine Dion.

[51] The music video for "Teardrops" was directed by Marcus Sternberg and shot in a filming studio between 20–22 August 2007 in Berlin, Germany.

[53] Shot over twenty hours back-to-back with the video for "Amaze Me", the edited clip premiered on 29 September 2007 on the Universal Music Group website.

[48] The group has declared the filming of the "mammoth shoot" as "extremely exhausting," referring to its extraordinary length and a delay of several hours, caused by various technical defects.

[54] Lucy Diakovska has described the plotless clip as a "funky disco-dance-energy-video," reflecting another facet of the band in music and style.

[48] Inspired by a concept developed by all four members and based on Sternberg's treatment, the music video was conceived as a stylistic counterpart to "Amaze Me".

[58][59] The music video for the song was filmed on 14 January 2008, at the Love Machine in South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia.